USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. III > Part 7
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The Hazard family was mainly responsible for the construction and operation of the Narra- gansett Pier Railroad. Mr. Hazard was a direc- tor and for a time chairman of the Finance Com- mittee of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Com- pany; director of the Morris Plan Company of Rhode Island; director of the Providence Journal Company; director of the Providence What Cheer and Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Companies; di- rector of the Providence Telephone Company; president of the Providence Warehouse Com- pany.
Rowland G. Hazard became a trustee of Brown University in 1893 and, later, a Fellow of that institution. He was a member of the Linnaean Society of New York; National Association for Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis; American Social Science Association; American Economic Association; Royal Economic Association of Great Britain; American Forestry Association; Franklin Institute of Philadelphia; Bibliophile Society of Boston; Archaeological Institute of America; and the American Ornithologists'
Union. He was one of the founders of the Museum of Comparative Oology which was ab- sorbed by the Museum of Natural History of Santa Barbara, California; Fellow of Royal So- ciety (paper in 1907 on "Arrow-heads" by invita- tion). He left to it his entire collection of birds' eggs, which, when it had been arranged, was ranked as one of the best private collections of its kind in the world. Mr. Hazard was a scholar and a student, deeply interested in natural sci- ences and kindred subjects, a talented and able public speaker, whose addresses were gems of thought, literary style and finished diction. He edited and republished the famous "Johnny Cake" papers by Thomas R. Hazard.
Although never a holder of an elective public office, he was an honored and prominent figure in public life in this State. In 1904 he was a Roose- velt Presidential elector, and when the Indian- apolis Monetary Convention assembled, he was appointed a member of its executive committee. He was a member of the executive committee of the Rhode Island State House Commission from 1890 to 1894. This was the commission that di- rected the building of Rhode Island's present beautiful State House. In 1900 he was a member of the Providence Harbor Improvement Com- mission, and he was also a member of the com- mission for building and afterward conducting the Rhode Island State Sanatorium for Consumption. For many years he was a member of the Ameri- can Board of Foreign Missions. He was a mem- ber of the Society of Colonial Wars in Rhode Island, and in 1902 he was lieutenant-governor of this body, deputy governor in 1904 and gover- nor in 1907.
His clubs were: Brown, Alpha Delta Phi (Brown University), University and Hope of Providence; Graduates, Country and Lawn of New Haven; Century, University and Hobby of New York City; the Authors' Club of London, England; and he was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was well known in social and club life in New York City, and he numbered among his friends men of note in the great literary and financial circles of that city and London.
Rowland Gibson Hazard married, November 16, 1880, in Beloit, Wisconsin, Mary Pierrepont Bushnell, daughter of Rev. George Bushnell and granddaughter of Eli Whitney Blake of New Haven, Connecticut. They were the parents of the following children: I. Rowland, of whom fur- ther. 2. Elizabeth, born April 27, 1883, married
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Rush Sturges of Providence. 3. Margaret, born January 25, 1886, married R. H. I. Goddard of Providence. 4. Mary Bushnell, born in 1890, mar- ried Wallace Campbell of Syracuse, New York. 5. Thomas Pierrepont, born October 27, 1892.
(X) Rowland Hazard, son of Rowland Gibson and Mary Pierrepont (Bushnell) Hazard, was born in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, October 29, 1881. He was prepared for college at the Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut, and then matric- ulated in Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1903 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. At college he majored in chemistry, a knowledge of which was to be of prime importance in connection with the coke and chemical indus- tries in which the family was interested and in the further development of which he was to play an important part. After completing his formal college training, young Hazard traveled exten- sively, gaining thereby a kind and breadth of cul ture obtainable in no other way. His introduction to the world of business was made in the office of the By-products Coke Corporation, and from there he went into the Semet Solvay Company's office in Syracuse. Having familiarized himself with the coke business, he returned to Peace Dale in 1907 to learn how woolens are manu- factured. He began at the bottom in the wool- sorting department and worked through the mill step by step to the office. In 1910 he was made treasurer of the company and continued in that office until 1918, at which time he sold the mill for the account of the family to M. T. Stevens and Sons of North Andover, Massachusetts. It was not easy, from the standpoint of sentiment, to part with a business which had been in the family since 1800, and which was one of the oldest of its kind in this country; but economic movements are ruthless, and Mr. Hazard realized that it would be unwise and unfair to those em- ployed to attempt much longer to compete in the market against vast aggregations of plants and capital.
In 1917 he had taken a position in the Ordnance Department of the United States Army, in which he was given the rank of captain on the civilian staff. He was employed as an expert on textiles. When the mill was sold, Captain Hazard went into the line, hoping to be sent overseas. Instead, he was made instructing officer and was sent in that capacity from one camp to another until the close of the war and he was demobilized in De- cember, 1918.
The next important undertaking to which he
gave his attention was the organization of the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. Those in a position to know say that Mr. Hazard was an important factor in bringing about this combina- tion, which absorbed the Solvay Process and allied companies in which his family had been for so long interested. Next, in 1920, he became identified with the private banking firm of Lee, Higginson and Company in New York City, and he spent the next seven years in financial opera- tions. In 1927 he resigned to travel in Africa; but this proved to be an unfortunate step, for he con- tracted a tropical disease from which he was two years in recovering. In 1928 Mr. Hazard went to the Pacific Coast for his health. On his way there, he came across a property in New Mexico, which he subsequently purchased with the inten- tion of engaging in ranching; and this purpose was carried out. But on the property, which is near the little town of LaLuz, he discovered a high grade clay adapted to the manufacture of art pottery. He organized the LaLuz Clay Products Company, which is now producing about fifty styles of vases and urns, all made by hand and along classic lines. For this work Mr. Hazard has employed the most talented practical and artistic potters he could find.
But he has not relinquished his interest and official connection with eastern corporations. He is a director of the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation; the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company; Interlake Iron Company, and others.
Like the other members of his family who have always borne their share of civic responsibility, Mr. Hazard served as a member and president of the Kingston Town Council, and from 1914 to 1916 he was a member of the State Senate, in which he served as a member of the finance com- mittee.
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He is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Frater- nity and Elihu Club in New Haven. His New York City clubs are: Broad Street, Racquet and Tennis; the Rhode Island Club, Agawam, Squan- tum and Turks Head in Providence; Chicago Club of Chicago; LaCumbre Club of Santa Bar- bara, California. Mr. Hazard's principal hobby is music. He has done considerable writing for the voice.
Rowland Hazard married, October 5, 1910, Helen Hamilton Campbell, born in Chicago, April 13, 1889, daughter of Augustus Campbell. Four children have been born from this union: Caroline Campbell, Rowland Gibson, Peter Hamilton and Charles Ware Blake.
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Mr. Hazard's many and varied interests keep him in New York City and the Southwest for a large part of his time; but his legal residence is still in Rhode Island, and he has lost none of the love for the State and interest in all that con- cerns its welfare that has ever been a charac- teristic of the Hazard family.
CHARLES CARROLL, LL. B., Ph. D .- Educator, lawyer, lecturer, author, and editor, Dr. Charles Carroll is well known in Rhode Is- land. He is a historian of established reputation, and in his busy life has had many contacts with the events of the past quarter of a century, in legal practice, in newspaper work, and as a col- lege professor and educational administrator.
Charles Carroll was born in Providence, June 8, 1876, a son of William and Mary Elizabeth (Sheehan) Carroll. His father was a newspaper printer. Dr. Carroll received his early educa- tion in his native city's public elementary schools and at Classical High School, Providence, from which he was graduated in 1894. At Brown Uni- versity he won the Hartshorn premium for ex- cellence in mathematics; was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior standing among the first five in his class; was managing editor of the "Brown Daily Herald," and a contributor to other col- lege publications; was the first president of the Brown Debating Union; president of the Press Club, and secretary of his class; and he was graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1898. Three years later he was graduated as Bachelor of Laws from Harvard University Law School. Ad- mitted to the Rhode Island bar, in 1901, he has practiced law since then. For fifteen years he combined law practice with newspaper work. Re- turning to Brown University as a graduate stu- dent, he received the degree of Master of Arts in Social and Political Science, and two years later that of Doctor of Philosophy in Education. Meanwhile he had written and published "School Law of Rhode Island" (1914) and, as a doctor's thesis, "Public Education in Rhode Island," a 500-page history of the public school system of Rhode Island, which was published by the State Department of Education in 1918. In 1916 he was appointed jointly as assistant to Hon. Walter E. Ranger, State Commissioner of Education, and as an instructor in Rhode Island Educa- tion at Rhode Island Normal School. When the normal school was reorganized as a college in
1920, Dr. Carroll was appointed Professor of Political Science and Rhode Island Education. In the meanwhile he had been appointed direc- tor of vocational education in 1918, and pro- fessor of school law and administration at Rhode Island State College in 1919. Thus, Dr. Carroll has been connected with all four Rhode Island colleges, as professor in the two State colleges, as three times a graduate of Brown University, and as a trustee of Providence College.
As assistant to Dr. Ranger his service has been administrative, because of his legal experience and particular familiarity with school law, and as author and editor in connection with official re- ports and other publications. During his service with Commissioner Ranger, Dr. Carroll has drafted more than fifty educational bills, which have been enacted into law by the General As- sembly. He has been the author of several treatises, including the following: "Comparative Study of Education in the Towns of Rhode Is- land" (1916); "Rhode Island's Rank Among the States" (1919); "Short History and Biographical Sketch of State Board of Education" ( 1920) ; "Rhode Island Historical Calendar" (1922); "Outline of the Constitution of Rhode Island" (1925); "Outline of the Constitution of the United States" (1925); "Outline of the History of Rhode Island" (1925); "Evolution of the Con- stitution" (1927); and "Rhode Island-Three Cen- turies of Democracy" (4 vols., 1931). He has also contributed occasional articles to the educational press, including the "American School Board Journal," which carries his contributions as lead- ing articles. A large number of biographies and other historical articles in the four annual pam- phlets published by the commissioner of educa- tion have also come from his pen, as well as a number of short school biographies, including those of Nathanael Greene, Oliver Hazard Perry, Christopher Greene, Matthew G. Perry, William Barton, Roger Williams, Stephen Olney, Silas Talbot, Elisha R. Potter, and John Howland. In particular his published studies on the history of the flag of Rhode Island and of the United States, including "The True Story of the Flag," have attracted widespread notice. He is the author of "Rhode Island," the State anthem, of which 100,000 copies have been printed.
Dr. Carroll is permanent secretary of his col- lege class, and a member of educational socie- ties, fraternal organizations, and civic clubs. He is a past president of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, the Rhode Island State Teachers'
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Association, and is managing editor and publisher of the "Quarterly Journal" of the institute, which is a new venture started by him in 1927, while president of the institute, of the board of directors of which he is now a member. Other organizations, in which Dr. Carroll maintains membership, include the Knights of Columbus; the Holy Name Society, of which he has been president; the Barnard Club of Rhode Island; the Bay Spring Yacht Club, of which he has been commodore and is secretary; and the Cath- olic Club, of which he is vice-president. His religious affiliations are with the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. Carroll married at Pawtucket, October 2, 1902, Gertrude V. Gariepy, a daughter of Nelson and Mary (Smith) Gariepy. Dr. and Mrs. Car- roll make their home at No. 82 Pinehurst Ave- nue, Providence. They have two children: I. Charles Carroll, Jr., born August 17, 1908. 2. William Carroll, 2d, born April 20, 1911. Dr. Carroll's offices are in the State House at Provi- dence.
WALTER EUGENE RANGER-More than a quarter century ago Walter Eugene Ranger achieved the unique distinction of being the first chief educational officer to be drafted directly from service in another State; he came to Rhode Island in 1905 to be Commissioner of Education after five years as State Superintendent of Edu- cation in Vermont. He was born at Wilton, Maine, November 22, 1855, son of Peter and Eliza Minot (Smith) Ranger. His descent on both sides was from families settled in New Eng- land during the colonial period. He was edu- cated in the schools of his native town, and at Wilton Academy, and was graduated from Bates College in 1879 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He had already begun his career as an educator, having taught several terms while a college student. Upon graduation he continued, first in the field of secondary education, as prin- cipal of Nichols Latin School at Lewiston, Maine, 1879-80; principal of the high school at Lenox, Massachusetts, 1880-83; and principal of Lyndon Institute, at Lyndon, Vermont, 1883-96. In seventeen years he had been a high school or academy principal in three New England states. In the instance of Lyndon Institute, the enroll- ment of students increased from fifty-three to two hundred and forty during the Ranger admin- istration, and the academy achieved a reputation
that was not limited to Vermont. His next serv- ice in education was as principal of the State Normal School at Johnson, Vermont, 1896-1900. He was elected by the Legislature of Vermont to be State Superintendent of Education in 1900, continuing by annual election until, in 1905, he accepted election by the Rhode Island State Board of Education as Commissioner of Educa- tion. In this connection it is interesting to note that Rhode Island in 1845 selected Henry Bar- nard, a native and citizen of Connecticut, as the first Commissioner of Public Schools, and that Rhode Island was the first State to follow the precedent by inviting Walter Eugene Ranger from Vermont. Since 1900 other States have sought chief educational officers beyond their borders. In the twenty-seventh year of service in Rhode Island Dr. Ranger is nearing the long record of his predecessor, who held the office thirty years. In combined service of thirty-two years in Vermont and Rhode Island, Dr. Ranger's career is unique.
In Vermont as chief educational officer he achieved signal success in the promotion of public education through his leadership in obtaining favoring legislation. In Rhode Island, after a year devoted to the study of Rhode Island public schools, Dr. Ranger announced an educational program capitalizing improvements to be at- tained through progressive legislation. In his years in Rhode Island he has seen the program of 1906 completed both in principle and in detail, and has had the opportunity to achieve additional forward measures. The limits of a brief biographical sketch preclude mention of all the measures for education which Dr. Ranger has promoted to the goal of achievement, but the following should not be omitted: Medical inspection and health educa- tion as one of the most important elements of the curriculum; patriotic education through exercises in the public schools and publication of patriotic literature in pamphlet editions reaching 100,000 copies; consistent improvement in the training of teachers, and recognition of professional attain- ment through higher types of certification and better salaries; tenure for teachers, and a state- wide, universal teachers' pension, the most gener- ous in America, because it is supported exclu- sively from the general treasury; an extension of adult education through evening schools and pub- lic libraries, besides the recent promotion of Americanization classes intended to reduce illiter- acy; a mandatory high school law, insuring the advantages of secondary education throughout the
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State; a complete reorganization of school finance and administration in all departments; increase in appropriations from the general treasury for dis- tribution to towns for the support of public schools. Among other accomplishments to which Dr. Ranger has given unstinted service person- ally and by reason of his office have been the de- velopment of Rhode Island State College, the re- organization of Rhode Island Normal School as Rhode Island College of Education, the extension of opportunities for collegiate education on State scholarships at Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University and Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, the expansion of public library service and the supplementary activity of traveling libra- ries. To these major enterprises should be added cheerful cooperation in promoting welfare and educational enterprises of all sorts; in spite of the demands upon his time made because of a con- stantly broadening official responsibility, Dr. Ranger never has failed to respond to a call for assistance.
Honors have followed recognition of unusual attainment. Bates College recalled Dr. Ranger twice, to confer upon him in 1883 the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1907 the honor- ary degree of Doctor of Laws. The University of Vermont granted the degree of Master of Arts in 1902, and Rhode Island State College, that of Doctor of Education in 1922. The teachers of Rhode Island in 1930 celebrated the completion of a quarter-century of service in Rhode Island by special exercises during their annual meeting, a dinner and a shower of gold coin with a watch chain engraved with the name of every town and city in Rhode Island. He has served as trustee of Bates College and of Lyndon Institute, as president of the board of managers of Rhode Is- land State College, as trustee of Rhode Island Col- lege of Education, and as trustee of Rhode Island School of Design. He has been honored in edu- cational associations, among which he has been the chief officer of: The American Institute of In- struction, the Rhode Island Institute of Instruc- tion, and the Barnard Club of Rhode Island. When a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was organ- ized at Bates College, Dr. Ranger was elected as a graduate member, in recognition both of his scholastic attainment as a student and of his achievements after graduation. He is a Congre- gationalist, and member of the Barnard Univer- sity and Congregational clubs.
Dr. Ranger married Mary M. Showman at Wilton, Maine, in 1879, deceased 1885. He mar-
ried Mabel C. Bemis at Lyndonville, Vermont, in 1889. Two children of the first marriage, Walter Harland and William Eugene, died in early child- hood. Of the second marriage, the children are: Arthur Forest, Ruth Mabel, and Robert Walter.
While Dr. Ranger has been affiliated with many fraternal and social organizations, his major activity has been in Freemasonry. His Masonic record is as follows: (1) made Master Mason June 28, 1889, Crescent Lodge, No. 66, Lyndon- ville, Vermont; (2) made Royal Arch Mason November 7, 1890, Haswell Chapter, No. II, St. Johnsbury, Vermont; (3) made Royal and Select Master, April 13, 1894, Caledonia Council, No. 13, St. Johnsbury, Vermont; (4) made Knight Tem- plar April 7, 1891, Palestine Commandery, No. 5, St. Johnsbury, Vermont; (5) received the four- teenth degree March 20, 1895, Mizpah Lodge of Perfection, St. Johnsbury, Vermont; (6) demitted to Haswell Lodge of Perfection, Burlington, Ver- mont, in 1898; (7) received the sixteenth degree June 13, 1898, Joseph W. Roby Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Burlington, Vermont; (8) received the eighteenth degree June 13, 1898, Delta Chapter of Rose Croix, Burlington, Vermont; (9) received the thirty-second degree June 13, 1898, in Ver- mont Consistory, Burlington, Vermont; (10) cre- ated Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine in June, 1905, Burlington, Vermont; (II) received the thirty-third degree, the last of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, September 20, 1904, Bos- ton, Massachusetts; (12) has held the following offices: Senior Deacon, 1890-92; Junior Warden, 1892-94; Senior Warden, 1894-95; Worshipful Master, 1896-97 (all in Crescent Lodge) ; all prin- cipal offices in all the bodies of the Scottish Rite of which he is a member; and was Commander- in-Chief of the Vermont Consistory, thirty-second degree; in Grand Lodge of Vermont, Grand Lec- turer, 1900-01; Grand Senior Warden, 1901-03; Deputy Grand Master, 1903-05; Grand Master, 1905-06; in Vermont Council of Deliberation, Grand Prior, 1899; Grand Minister of State, 1900; Second Lieutenant Commander, 1901; First Lieu- tenant Commander, 1902.
Dr. Ranger, besides his active career in educa- tion and in Masonry, has found time for writing and lecturing, and has been a well-known figure at educational conventions and conferences. His colleagues have recognized the wisdom of his counsel, and the judicial attitude with which he approaches the solution of problems. His kindly and genial personality have won him warm friend- ships among his associates; his active and worthy
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service in public education the esteem of his fel- low-citizens, and of those engaged in education throughout the Nation.
JAMES EDWARD DUNNE-Mayor of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, since 1927, James Edward Dunne has been a well-known fig- ure in the life of this section for many years. He has given much of his time and effort to the pub- lic service since the beginning of his active career.
Mayor Dunne was born at Providence, Rhode Island, on October 3, 1882, a son of James and Mary Ellen (Reed) Dunne. His father, a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served with the First Rhode Island Cavalry, was later engaged in the grocery business at Providence.
James Edward Dunne received his education in Providence schools, attending the Branch Ave- nue Grammar School and Classical High School. In 1902, he became associated with his father in the grocery business, and from 1902 until 1916 was owner and manager of several retail grocery stores. In the latter year, he went to Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, where he became associated with Daniel Minogue in the chemical and oil business. He soon returned to Providence, how- ever, and since 1919 has been the proprietor of the Strand Oil Company.
A Democrat in politics, Mayor Dunne has exer- cised an important influence in local councils of his party for many years, and as its candidate has been elected to numerous public offices. From 1915 until 1921, he was a member of the Provi- dence Common Council, and from 1923 until 1927, served as a member of the city board of aldermen. In addition, from 1922 until 1925, he was chair- man of the Democratic State Central Committee. In 1926, Mr. Dunne was elected mayor of the city. Entering office the following year he has contin- ued to serve as Providence's chief executive since that time. Mayor Dunne was well qualified for the position which he holds and his record has been one of constructive administration, featured by the enactment of many progressive measures. He enjoys the full confidence of the people of his city, and in successive elections has been honored by their support.
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